Packed tower



Feb. 5, 1946.

E. D; STRICKLAND PACKED TOWER Filed Jan. 5, 1944 Ill Ill/I Ill/fINVENTOR ELIZABETH D'nSTR/CK L AND,

ATTORNEYS Patented Feb. 5, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PACKED/TOWERElizabeth Deems Strickland, Dayton, Ohio, as-

signor to Chemical Developments Corporation, Dayton, Ohio, a corporationof Ohio Application January 5, 1944, Serial No. 517,071

4 Claims.

' pors through the tower, and reactions carried out in such packedtowers have been slowed up considerably as a result.

The packed tower of the present invention is provided with a retainerwhich has the advantage of permitting ready flow of vapors upwards intocontact with the packing material. The retainer forming a part of thepacked tower head of the present invention has the advantage of notsubstantially restricting the flow of vapors by virtue of the fact thatit does not reduce materially the cross sectional area of the memberthrough which the vapors must flow upwardly into contact with thepacking material.

The present invention will be fully understood from the followingdescription taken in connection with the annexed drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic representation, partly in cross section, of apacked tower head showing the packing material and the packing materialretainer in position;

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional enlarged view of the retainer illustrated inFig. 1;

gig. 3 is a plan view of the retainer of Fig. 2; an

Fig. 4 is an elevational view, partly in cross section, of a modifiedform of the retainer of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawing in deta'l, l is the top portion, l I thecentral portion mail! the bottom portion of a packed tower head. ecentral portion II is Provided with packing material I3 supported on aretainer l4.

, The retainer i4 is illustrated in elevational cross section in Fig. 2and consists of a member provided with a longitudinal aperture l5 and aplurality of protrusions l6.

In Fig. 4 isillustrated a modification of the retainer ofv Fig. 2. Itwill be noted that it is provided on its upper portion with a pluralityof iongitudinal slots l! the advantages of which will bediscussedthereinafter.

I Referring again to Fig. 1, vapors enter the lower portion I2 of thepacked head through the a u-re l8 and flow upwardly into the aperture Ioithe retainer II as well as around the retainer H and upwardly throughthe spaces between the protrusions 16 on the retainer 14. It will benoted that the greatest proportion of the cross sectional area of theaperture I8 is retained for the flow of vapors through and around theretainer M by virtue of the particular construction of said retainer.

When round beads are employed as packing material and the diameter ofthe beads is slightly larger than the diameter of the aperture IS in theretainer [4, it frequently happens that one of the beads will becomepositioned directly over the upper portion of the retainer l4 and thuscompletely stop the fiow of vapors through the aperture l5 by sealingoii' its outlet at the top. Under such circumstances, it is advantageousto use a retainer according to the modification illustrated in Fig. 4.It will be noted that such a retainer is provided with a plurality oflongitudinal slots l I on the upper portion thereof. When such amodification is employed, the flow of vapors through the aperture 15 inthe retainer M will not be stopped as a result of one of the beadssealing off the top of the retainer l4 since the vapors would then flowoutwardly through the slots l1. When the packing material employed isangular in shape, or of a nature which will prevent sealing off of theaperture [5 in the retainer H at the top, the retainer of Fig. 2 willprove quite satisfactory; however,

the retainer 01' Fig. 4 may be used under such circumstances withequally'satisfactory results as when the packing material is in the formof round beads.

It will be understood that while the present invention has beendescribed herein and illustrated in the drawing in embodimentsparticularly adaptable for use in the laboratory, it is not intendedthereby to limit the scope of the present invention to any suchembodiments, in view of the fact that the present invention may bemodifled and applied efiectively and advantageously in connection withpilot plant and industrial equipment of the .type herein considered.

It should be understood that it is not intended to have the presentinvention limited to or circumscribed by the particular details ofconstruction, arrangement of parts. materials, sizes, and shapes hereindescribed or illustrated in the drawing, in view of the fact that thisinvention is susceptible to modifications depending on individualconditions and preference without departing from the spirit of thisdisclosure and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim: 1

1. In a packed tower, a. tubular element enlarged intermediate its endsto form a chamber adapted to be filled with discrete particles ofpacking' material of smaller size than the internal cross-sectional areaof said tubular element, and means for retaining said material in saidchamberand comprising a tubular section loosely fitting said tubularelement, and having radially projecting arms intermediate its ends, saidarms being adapted to rest on said element at the point where the latterenlarges into said chamber, the length of said section from saidprotrusions to the end within said chamber being small in relation tothe dimension of said chamber axially of said tubular element.

2. In a packed tower, a tubular element enlarged intermediate its endsto form a chamber adapted to be filled with discrete particles ofpacking material of smaller size than the internal cross-sectional areaof said tubular element, and means for restraining said material againstegress from said chamber, said means comprising a tube section ofsmaller outside diameter than the inside diameter of said tubularelement, said section having radial projections at a distance: from itsupper end that is small in relation to the dimension of said chamberaxially of said tube, whereby said section is supported by saidprojections at the lower junction of said element and chamber, theportion of said section below said projections extending downwardly intothe lower portion of said tubular element.

3. In a packed tower, a tubular element enlarged intermediate its end toform a chamber adapted to be filled with discrete particles of materialof a size smaller than the internal cross-sectional area of said tubularelement, and means for preventing egress of said material from saidchamber said means comprising a tube section having an outside diameterless than the internal diameter of said tubular element, said sectionhaving radial arms at a distance from itsupper end that is not greaterthan one-fifth of the dimension of said chamber axially of said tube,whereby said section is supported by said arms at the lower junction ofsaid element and chamber, said section having openings through its wallclosely adjacent its upper end.

4. Means for retaining discrete particles within a tube enlarged betweenits ends to form a chamber and having an exit opening larger than theparticles of said material, comprising a tubular section of smallerexternal diameter than said opening, and smaller internal diameter thansaid particles; a plurality of arms extending radially from said sectionat a distance below its upper end that is small in comparison with thevertical dimension of said chamber axially of said tube, said armsacting to support said tubular section within said opening.

ELIZABETH DEEMS STRICKLAND.

